Mangold turns down trip to cheer on his sister during Jets’ camp

Posted by Michael David Smith on May 30, 2012, 6:59 AM EDT

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Nick Mangold’s sister, Holley Mangold, is a weightlifter who will compete at the London Olympics this summer. Nick won’t be there to see her, but not because the Jets won’t let him leave during training camp.

Nick said on NFL Network that Jets coach Rex Ryan offered him the chance to miss a few days of training camp to travel to London to cheer his sister on, just as the Jaguars are allowing cornerback Aaron Ross to miss time at training camp to watch his Olympic sprinter wife. But Nick didn’t think it would be right to take a vacation while his teammates were sweating through the summer heat.

“God bless Rex because he did offer it to me, but I don’t think I can leave my guys in the middle of training camp,” Mangold said. “But we’ll figure out a way to watch, and I’m real excited and real proud for her. Somehow, some way, I’ll watch it. But I don’t know if I can do the jump over the pond in the middle of training camp.”

At 5-foot-9 and 350 pounds, Holley Mangold is seven inches shorter and 43 pounds heavier than Nick. She recently told the Los Angeles Times that she’s proud to be built like an offensive lineman, which she was in high school.

“I’m huge,” Holley Mangold said. “I love my body. I think it’s perfect. I don’t know what my personality would be like if I wasn’t so huge.”

Holley is huge enough that she qualified for the Olympics by clean and jerking 319 pounds. But no matter how huge Holley gets, Nick made a point of saying on NFL Network that he’s stronger than she is.

Mangold’s teammates need to step up and tell him to go. How can he not be there to support his sister’s once in a lifetime chance to be the best in the world in her sport? It doesn’t have to be a ‘vacation.’ Take the playbook to read on he plane, and go for a day or 2 when she competes and come back home.

Maybe when Mangold plays in a Super bowl someday, hopefully not with Rex Ryan, Holley will say, “Sorry, can’t make it. I’ve got a training session I just CAN’T miss!”

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Mangold,
I want to apologize for the comments made by a few boneheads on this site and the network for letting these comments see the light of day. Good luck to your daughter in the coming Olympics. We all will be cheering for her.

i don’t care how much of a “world class athlete” she is, 5-foot-9 and 350 pounds is morbidly obese. I hope after she wins her gold medal she realized that if she doesn’t shed some lbs she will be dead at 35.

At least she’s doing something positive and constructive with her abnormal size, as opposed to growing to an abnormal size through inactivity.

That said, hopefully after her time in the spotlight she will recognize that her body isn’t “perfect”, it’s only actually beneficial for this one specific endeavor, and if she doesn’t mix in a whole lot of cardio, it will completely fail on her by the time she is 40.

ampats says:
May 30, 2012 7:54 AM
Another reason why Tim Tebow will remain a virgin while on the Jets.
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Seriously.. the trolls on here get dumber and dumber all the time. This doesn’t even make sense. Really cool and hilarious posters here making fun of a girl representing our country in the Olympics. I’m sure all of you are in perfect shape and super good looking right? That’s why you wait for all of the posts on PFT about the Jets and whatever else to jump in with your super-hilarious comments, right?

‘Take the playbook to read on he plane, and go for a day or 2 when she competes and come back home.”

You do realize it’s an over 7 hour flight, not including TSA and British security (which will be over the top to protect the Olympics), plus the five hour time difference, & transportation to and from the event? Yeah, the guy has financial resources that most of us can only dream of and could pull it all off in style & comfort, but no way in hell he sees his sister in a 24 to 48 hour span and is good to go the next day at training camp. Not saying he shouldn’t go, but he’ll need more time than you think.

She’s proud of her looks and we should all be proud of her when she represents us this summer. You go ahead and make fun of her, but you know perfectly well you’ll be hoping she adds to the medal count.

iaactuary says:
May 30, 2012 7:44 AM
Mangold’s teammates need to step up and tell him to go. How can he not be there to support his sister’s once in a lifetime chance to be the best in the world in her sport?

My bet is that: (1) his being in London would not make one iota of difference in her performance, and (2) being a world class athlete herself, she understands his committment to his sport.

She was once on MTVs show “true life” showing a documentary of her weight lifting. She’s actually really talented. They also showed Nick on the show and it showed that she really cares for her brother and she kinda looks up to her brother because he’s in the NFL but Nick is actually “embarrassed” of her because of her size. Nick is kinda an ass towards her never really seems to support anything avenue does and always has some sort of smart jab to throw at her all the time. So him not showing up to support her in London isn’t a huge surprise.

i think it is terrible and shows little respect on nick’s part for him not to go. espn has ran a story or 2 about the relationship these 2 have.
its a once in a lifetime shot and you don’t go see your sister? training camp and otas happen every year. what is wrong you you MAN?
blood is not thicker than football?

Holley was featured on MTV’s ‘True Life’ and came across as an extremely dedicated and driven person chasing her dreams. As if we needed any other reason to cheer for an American athlete in the Olympics, we’ll all be pulling for Holley!

To echo jlporcher, I also saw the MTV True Life w/ Holley. Nick came off like a petty older brother who didn’t support her efforts at all. Seemed to think he was the only family member entitled to do big things. If you saw that episode, you would not be at all surprised that he’s not going. I got the impression he wouldn’t walk across the street to support her, not to mention traveling across the world and missing training camp.

baron30 says:
May 30, 2012 8:28 AM
i don’t care how much of a “world class athlete” she is, 5-foot-9 and 350 pounds is morbidly obese. I hope after she wins her gold medal she realized that if she doesn’t shed some lbs she will be dead at 35.

gold medals will seem a little hollow once diabetes takes your feet.

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I’m not sure what 5’9 350 person morbidly obese person you know, that can lift 319 lbs over their head. Plus, they have to take physicals in order to compete. So I doubt diabetes is in her future.

Can the Jets sign her, like forreal forreal? She’s gotta be better than at least 3/5 of our offensive line. Or maybe if she wants to give defense a try, she’d be the best nose they had since Kris Jenkins.

She won a state title as a center for an Ohio high school football team (correction) she won 2 state titles as an offensive lineman including 1 runner up. Yeah, she is a big girl, but props to her. To be a woman and an offensive lineman she had to be great. Good isn’t good enough if you are a woman playing football in high school. Good gets you on the bench, allows you to suit up, but does get you to play and start.

If I was Nick I would go. This isn’t something that comes around all the often. She has defied odds being a female offensive linemen with 2 more state titles than I have as a dude. She continues to do outstanding things being in the Olympics. It’s 3 days in training camp. Your back up could use the work and your job will be there when you get back. Go support your family, man. How many family members have a chance to go for gold in the olympics?

Anyone else remember when Nick Mangold was about to get drafted in the 1st Round and they did a 20 minute documentary on his fat sister playing offensive lineman in High School….. Nick didnt seem too thrilled about it and looked embarrassed.

Obviously he doesnt want to waste his time to go watch his sister participate in the Olympics, unless they have a 20 min documentary about him. Right?